A Breath of Wind
---- The bright sun sat high amongst the clouds, surrounded by blue skies on this warm spring afternoon. A cool, light breeze blowing through the air as the final few days of winter had come to pass only a week earlier which allowed the snow to melt and reveal the now fresh grass beneath it. Izar sat on a tree stump near the forest's edge looking contently at the fresh grass blowing slightly back and forth as he wrote in his journal. While he enjoyed winter, the sight of spring was always a welcome one as everything began to come back to life once more. He let out a quiet sigh as his eyes averted from the grass before slipping his journal into his jacket pocket and beginning to scan the horizon near the guildhall, awaiting the one who had invited him to spar with her today. Haizea fiddled with the beer caps she had pocketed from the bar, sending them high up into the air before catching them with ease. She was excited to fight. Her muscles itched and her bones ached at the lack of excitement she had felt since coming to Ishgar two weeks ago. It had been strange adjusting to the different temperature, culture, and style of life but for once, Haizea felt that she had somewhere she might truly be wanted. She grinned, spotting a clump of violet hair attached to a lean body known as Izar Tasya, one of the men she had fought alongside. "Izar!" She called, waving him over to the open space where she stood, waiting for him. Izar heard the woman's voice and immediately turned toward it, waving back before getting up and walking over to her. "Good afternoon, Haizea. I hope the day has treated you fairly. It's good to see you again, we haven't spoken since the war. We're here to spar, yes? It would probably be best to lay down the rules first, right?" Izar asked before his eyes wandered away from her as he began to think, "Obviously I don't think it would be wise to go all out. I'd rather not hurt you and I hope you'd like to avoid hurting me as well," he said before the thoughtful expression left his face. "As a personal request, I'd appreciate it if you would avoid damaging my face as much as possible. More or less to be considerate toward the woman I have to go home to after this," he said before laughing, "I'm only joking. I'm a quick healer so don't worry about it," he continued through his laughter. Once said laughter had subsided he let out a pleasant sigh, "are there any conditions you'd like to add?" She nodded along, smiling at his joke before adding in, "No, not really. I just want you to do your best. It isn't any help to me if you let me win." She grinned cheekily, darting a few steps backward. The woman assured that her hair was held securely before shedding her kimono off her shoulders, letting it hang around her waist. She raised her fists and bent her knees, focusing on drowning out the constant pulse of energy that she felt. She subtly placed a few invisible balls of pressurized air around the area, set to detonate a lowscale pulse of wind when she commanded, just enough to knock Izar off his feet. Izar watched her jump back, getting into his fighting stance. He took several quiet breaths, knowing it would be best to keep calm during any fight regardless of whether or not it was just a spar. He knew the fight had begun when he felt her cast a spell, even if he couldn't see what she had done any mage worth the title would sense the usage of magical energy where there wasn't any mere moments ago. He responded by sliding his left foot forward while pulling his right arm back to raise the dirt beneath her right foot and move the ground beneath her left toward him in an attempt to throw her off balance. He then quickly took a step forward, letting his right foot land just a bit harder than someone would if their only goal was to advance forward. This subtle action raised a diagonal pillar of rock upwards from the ground in an attempt to strike her the center of her back just hard enough to knock the wind out of her for a moment. Haizea noticed as the ground shifted below her, automatically surrounding herself with a gale to carry her into the sky. However, she did not fully account for the speed of the pillow, barely missing it as it grazed her back while she ascended into the sky. She took a position above him, detonating the few air bombs she had set out earlier. Simultaneously, she directed herself downward, extending her left leg and charging a sphere of pressurized air at the end of her feet, descending at a rapid rate towards Izar's chest, in hopes of striking him with a wind-enhanced kick to send him backward. Izar took in a deep breath as Haizea came flying toward him, throwing his arms up to protect his chest. He dug his feet into the ground up to his shin when her foot connected, before opening his mouth to let out a blast of wind, "Bellow of the mountain giant!" Izar yelled as the sudden gust of air escaped his mouth in an attempt to send Haizea higher into the air as well as further away from him. Haizea grinned as she made contact, allowing the sphere to explode into a gust of aura, hoping to send him deeper into the earth while she used his and her own attack to send herself back into the air, maneuvering into a double backflip before she landed gracefully on the ground. The blonde bent her knees before pouring her magic into every part of her body, drastically enhancing her speed until she broke into movement, appearing slightly behind Izar on his left side a moment after. She slammed her elbow backward, aiming to strike his back to knock him forward, hoping that he was still stuck in place by the time she struck. Izar was surprised by the sudden strike to his back which sent him falling forward, his breath had caught in his throat but he didn't panic or lose focus, quickly recovering before literally sinking into the ground and leaving an outline of himself shaped hole in the dirt. He rose from the ground about twenty feet behind where Haizea had been moments ago. Holding out his hand toward her, it began to glow a bright purple. "Gravity distortion," Izar spoke, increasing the gravity around Haizea in hopes of bringing her to the ground before dropping to a knee and punching the ground, "Earthen Geyser," he spoke quietly. The ground beneath her cracked before a half meter radius hole opened up and began spewing sand upwards toward her. Haizea scanned the area, tensing as he rose. She grimaced as his gravity forced her down, forcing air underneath her feet though she was not able to bring herself more than a few inches above. As the ground shifted, sending her into the air as rapid-fire particles of sand battered her, Haizea raised her arms, creating a small wind barrier, minimizing the damage to her chest and face. When the attack ceased, Haizea survived her own body for damage, biting her lip as she looked at the abrasions and small slits along her arms, legs, and torso. Her breathing was deep as she readied her body again, launching towards Izar at a slower, yet still swift speed before using wind to boost herself over his body, aiming another pressurized kick between his shoulder blades as she went. Izar watched as she attempted to get behind him again, his eyes following her as best he could as his body followed after, turning to face her. "No one likes a one trick pony, Haizea," he said as he balled his fist up, catching it ablaze. The flames being a relatively cool temperature, having little ability to burn but instead provide a somewhat soothing warm as he knew fully powered fire would be much too dangerous for a simple sparring match. Barely, he side-stepped her kick, feeling a gust of wind fly past him as he moved to her right side and threw a punch aimed at her ribs. Haizea's momentum carried her towards the grown as his punch rocketed into the side of her chest, the impact enough to send the light woman flying through the air. She landed in a heap, a rare occurrence for the woman with usual hawk-like perception and feline grace. Haizea felt the impact jolt through her bones and let out an audible grunt of pain and she dug her nails into the sandy ground. "Damn Izar. You hit hard." She said with a chuckle. Izar immediately felt the recoil of his punch vibrate through his hand before it became momentarily numb as he watched her fly into the air, quickly falling and hitting the ground hard, making him worry if he had hit her harder than he'd meant to. He let out a sigh of relief when she began laughing, walking briskly over to her before holding out his uninjured hand to help her up in case she needed it. "Sorry about that, you recovered pretty quickly though. I hope you're alright," Izar said with a friendly smile adorning his features. She grinned, looking up at him as wind began to swirl around. "I'm fine," she said, gripping sand before whirling it towards his eyes. She leapt into action, letting her power take her into the air while she grabbed his left arm, forcing it behind his back as she twisted through the air. Haizea landed on his back, using her weight and a gust of wind to force Izar to the ground. "I'm sorry, a street rat like me ain't no one to teach them manners after all." Izar grunted quietly in pain, "what underhanded tactics, I truly expected better from one of my guildmates," he said in feigned offense. His eyes remained closed as he bucked upward using his free hand to push up as if trying to escape but in reality, he had used his earthen sense to get a good idea of where things were around him. The pulse of ethernano had also served another purpose, weakening the ground around them using his earth cutter technique. "I don't know what possessed you to think this was a good position to put me in though. I mean, an earth mage forced face first into the dirt?" Izar said as the ground beneath the two of them gave way to a large pitfall with a six and a half foot radius around them though only around six feet deep. Using his Cosmic magic, Izar warped behind her before taking in a deep breath. He exhaled loudly, releasing a torrent of hot water down into the hole. He landed a few feet away, sending out another pulse as he did so as to be able to see the objects around him before he began to pull the sand from his eyes. Haizea laughed at his words, though the noise halted as she realized her mistake. "Fuck." The woman swore as she fell into the pit, too shocked by the impact to shield herself from the water. Luckily, the temperature itself was not deadly, merely feeling like hot bath water to the woman. "I'm lucky you're not an enemy," Haizea admitted, using her wind to boost her out of the pit. "I'd be dead." She said with a wild grin. The rugged blonde raised her fists again, feeling the rush of a cool breeze around her fists as she prepared to fight again. She ran towards him, her extraordinary speed paving her path as her fist began to find its way towards his gut. "If you had wanted, you could have killed me the second you took me down before I could have done anything. I've always been told I'm too kind for my own good," Izar said, pulling the last bit of sand from his eyes and opening them to see Haizea running toward him at an incredible speed. He threw his arms out to his sides and pulled rocks toward him to create an armor, the poorly produced under pressure product shattered the moment Haizea's fist made contact and while it did help by taking the initial impact, it didn't completely absorb it though, her fist continuing forward into his stomach. He was sent backward into the air, what was left of his armor falling off before he hit the ground several feet away. After quickly getting to his feet he placed a hand on his stomach, feeling like he might just puke, "that kinda hurt," he said under his breath. He stands up straight again, letting his arms fall to his side for a moment as he took several deep breaths to compose himself. He then brought them back up, getting into the fighting stance he had taken earlier. He moves forward, dropping to a knee and slamming his fist into the ground. In a similar manner to before, a small hole opened up below Haizea, this time, it was mud that shot from the hole aimed at her face. It was simply that, wet, cold, and dirty mud. Izar chuckled slightly but stopped when he realized that laughing only made his stomach hurt worse, "how do you like that?!" Haizea's hand crumbled through the armor, not without causing herself some pain. The woman shook her hand, grimacing, "I can agree.." She breathed heavily, knowing that her stamina was beginning to wane. Haizea analyzed his movement, waiting for his attack though once again, was caught unprepared as mud shot out of the earth covering her whole body. "Bastard," she mumbled, "Very funny!" She exclaimed as a current of wind circled around her, flinging every speck of mud off of her body and towards her surroundings. Izar's smile never left his face as he watched her patiently, wondering what might be going through her head as she simply stood there rather than following up with an attack. His hands fell to his side but stayed tense, ready to be brought back up to defend him at the drop of a hat as he began to circle around her from the left side. He hoped his almost defenseless looking posture would have her lower her guard but he doubted such a trick would work against someone who had fought with and alongside him before. Casually reaching into his back pockets he pulled from the right a mint leaf which he proceeded to place in his mouth before pulling out an item from his left pocket before tossing it into the air above Haizea and closing his eyes. A bright and loud explosion took place, bathing the area in a blanket of white for three seconds before dying back down. Izar opened his eyes before holding out his hand toward the woman who he had no idea if his flashbang had worked on, bringing up a total of three earth fists from the ground. Two aimed at to flank her from the sides while one came directly underneath her in hopes of getting in an uppercut. Haizea knew the feigned innocence as soon as she saw it. She had dealt with it numerous times over her years on the streets. Her stance was firm, ready to move at any instant. She caught his movement, recognizing it quickly as a flashbang, something used against her in the war. She instinctively covered it in a layer of wind energy, minimizing the effects of the light and sound while scanning the area for his true attack. She managed to scramble out of his trap, leaping off of the earthen fists to propel herself upward. She soared through the air, performing a flip and descending again, her leg jutted out as she prepared to slam her heel into Izar's skull. However, she had also inconspicuously created a cushion of wind on his head to minimize the damage she dealt. Izar threw both his arms to one side when he saw that his flash bang grenade had failed and Haizea kicked off of the rock fists, pulling the sand along with several loose rocks from the ground to begin spinning around him. "Earthen twister," Izar spoke quietly as the sand and rubble began to spin faster like a tornado until he couldn't even see outside of it. He doubted Haizea would continue forward toward him with the possibility of the sand and rocks cutting her. After waiting a few moments he cast earthen sense in hopes of finding her despite his inability to see through the wall of sand and rock before him. Unable to pin her down, he begins shooting several rocks in every direction, letting them break apart moments after exiting the twister as to assure that nothing hit the guild hall or her hard enough to break anything, before letting the sand explode outward in what he hoped would create a sand screen that would allow him to find her when she tried to blow it away. Her eyes narrowed as she was descending. She was going too fast to stop now. Haizea braced herself, summoning an air current to take her back into the heavens as the sandy rubble tore at her skin before she lifted herself to safety. There was no significant damage, but her scraped skin stung, testing Haizea's focus. She tried to think, tried to form a plan though dodging a shower of rocks was no easy task in itself. The barrage of magic Izar had used was overwhelming her. Haizea's mind was spinning as primal instinct and panic took over. Her feet hit the ground at the same time as her hands as she sent a ripple of her aura through the earth. The earth rumbled in response, ancient energy reacting to Haizea's. Cracks began to form as beams of light shone through, the sudden surge of energy disrupting the sandstorm Izar created and for a brief moment as the celestial light shone, Haizea could see her foe. Then, as suddenly as it came, the light disappeared and Izar's sandstorm took back the area in between. Izar saw the sudden bright light shining through the swirling rubble, something he hadn't expected from the wind based magic user. Regardless, his goal in finding where she was had been achieved, at least momentarily as he had no doubt she would have moved the moment they lost sight of each other. Knowing that would be the wisest choice for him as well, he moved to the side of the storm, rocks moving around him as if touching him was a sin. When he felt he had moved enough that simply throwing things at random in his former direction wouldn't hurt him he held out his hands forming two flat water disks and letting the sand the made up the storm fall to the ground in a large blanket, knowing he was in for a fight if the mounds of sand couldn't pin her down long enough to get in a match ending blow. Haizea had maneuvered carefully in the storm, shrouding her body in a stiff case of wind to protect her. As the sand began to fall she realized it was another trap. Wind swirled around her body as she pushed off the ground, carrying herself the sand as it fell. Suddenly, once more she could see clearly, immediately picking out Izar's violet hair. She cocked back her fist, propelling herself back towards him before a wave of nausea hit her. She fell abruptly, realizing that her magic was running low, reacting to the earth had taken its toll. Haizea ducked into a roll as she hit the ground, coming straight back up into a standing position with fists raised. She knew Izar would take advantage of her current state, but she wouldn't be unprepared. Izar watched the blonde haired woman hit the ground, a move much unlike the light-footed fighter he had come to know. Part of him wished to ask if she was okay but remembering the sand she'd thrown in his eyes earlier made him hesitant. That being said, this was only a spar and he'd hate for either of them to actually get hurt because they weren't willing to trust one another. The conflicted thoughts raced through his mind even as he saw Haizea rise to her feet. There was little harm she could do from all the way over there, her stance making it obvious she was looking for a fist fight and not wanting to participate in ranged combat any longer. Izar took the two water disks and tossed them at the girl, letting the cold water disks pop as they flew over her and hopefully splashed down on her head. "It's a bit too early in the year to be getting overheated during a little spar so I hope that helped you cool down a bit. If you're feeling a bit queasy I don't mind if we take a little break." He said, trying to sound teasing but knowing his concern sounded a bit more clear than he'd meant it to. Haizea scowled at him and shook the water off with a gust of wind. "I'm fine." She lied, she would never let herself show weakness in a fight. It was against anything she had been taught. It was something that would only cause pain. She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet before taking off once more, appearing quickly in front of Izar and dropping low, swinging her right left above the ground in a sweep kick to knock Izar off of his feet. Izar was surprised by her sudden attack, feeling her leg kick his feet out from underneath him. He hit the ground, the sand softening the fall but letting it crack beneath him anyway as a blunt stone spike shoots from the ground between his side and armpit, aimed directly for Haizea's gut, hoping to knock the air out of the wind Goddess and gain the upper hand. He rolled away once the spike broke surface from beneath the sand, getting to his feet only about two feet away from where he'd been on the ground a moment earlier, checking to see if his attack had hit its mark. Haizea didn't have time to stand and rolled to the side, narrowly missing the spikes. She rose, her viridescent eyes meeting Izar's with violent intent. She shot forward, her momentum carrying her towards her foe. She lowered her head, cradling it with one of her elbows, to turn her body into a human battering ram, headed straight for Izar at high speeds. Izar throws his hands out to the side, bracing himself for the impact before feeling her elbow slam into his gut and knock the breath from his lungs as well as several stands of spit from his mouth. Leaning forward out of instinct he brought his arms back in to wrap them around the sides of the bull rushing blonde haired woman, two small rocks jutting out of the ground behind him as she pushed him back until his feet were starting to dig into the ground. As the soles of his shoes came into contact with the rocks, he felt the pressure on his legs increase as he forced the two of them to stop, now in a somewhat awkward position. "And here I thought there was only one woman who could take my breath away," he said in a smartass tone as he struggled to force air back into his lungs once more. Tightening his grip, he attempts to bring them both to a knee, knowing that neither of them could do all that much in their current position without risking damage to themselves. "I don't think this is quite how you go about hugging someone." He said with newly found air in his lungs, feeling her trying her hardest to continue pushing him back, her feet still kicking up dust behind her. "I'll tell you what, give up now and lunch is on me. That sounds like a fair trade-off, right?" He said as they moved back another half inch as the rocks that Izar had planted his feet on had begun to slip back ever so slightly as well, leaving drag marks behind. Haizea ripped herself away from him with a snarl, "Don't touch me like that." She knew better not to let any man get too close. She didn't want to give up. Every bone, every muscle, every inch of her ached with the urge for victory. But she knew that she could not win. Haizea was no match for him and she knew it, even if she'd refuse to admit it. She felt another wave of nausea hit her, this time so disorienting that it took her to the ground. "I think I'll hold off on lunch." She managed to spit out in between gasps of breath. She knew she had used a lot of her magic, but she had never had side effects this strong. Izar lets her go as he feels her push away, "There's no need to go getting the wrong idea. You should know I'd never do something as heinous as touch you inappropriately. Besides, I'm a married man." He said before watching her suddenly fall to the ground, his eyes widening before he rushed over to her, hearing her reject his offer for lunch might have been amusing in any other situation. "Haizea, are you alright? That was a pretty nasty spill there. Let's just call this off for now, no use and getting too worked up over a sparring match. We can pick this up another time, let's just get you to the guild doctor, what do you say?" He asked, offering his hand to help her up. "I'm fine." She said, her head still spinning. "I should just probably take it easy. I'll rest for a few hours then I'll be fine." She lied. The last time she had summoned the energy she had been knocked out on the battlefield in Aeternum for nearly two days. The only reason she had survived was due to her small figure and the rubble that was strewn across her city. "Forgive me for not believing you, I'm quite good at catching people in their lies. There's no need to act tough when you're clearly not feeling well. We're friends, aren't we? I won't think any less of you for getting sick, you've proven just how strong you are on several other occasions. This isn't Aeternum or its streets, you're surrounded by allies who just want to help you. You'd think you'd have learned that by now but I guess your head is as hard as they come." He said with a slight smile, "So come on, Annalina can probably help you." He said, his hand remaining where it had been this whole time, still offering to help her up and hoping she'd stop being stubborn for a bit. Haizea grumbled, her insults incomprehensible as she eventually relented, grabbing Izar's hand and allowing him to lead her indoors. She felt nauseous, spending every second she was upright attempting to prevent herself from puking on Izar. She inched along, allowing him to take her to the infirmary before she crashed on a bed. Doctors made her nervous. All the "doctors" she had met were not the kindest, most trustworthy people and often did harm to their patients. Her body was tense as fear began to creep in. She didn't even know how to explain what she could do, it just seemed like instinct. The two made it down to one of the lower levels of the guild to Annalina's office. She seemed to be busy at the moment with another patient so the two took a seat in the make-shift waiting room. "You're really not looking too great, no offense. What's wrong? Did you eat something you shouldn't have? Things have expiration dates for a reason Haizea." He said, pulling a water bottle from his bag and offering it to her. "I'm not much of a doctor or anything like that but drinking some water might help." Haizea took the water and drank little sips, her stomach protesting. She bit her lip, debating telling him before deciding that it would be a safe decision. "It's the weird light thing. It really takes it out of me. I'm not even sure what it is, I mean, when I got my magic there was this voice in my head it just sorta clicks. Like, my body goes on its own when I get freaked out and it's like, BOOM." Haizea babbled, using rapid hand gestures. Izar raises a slight eyebrow at her rapid, somewhat entertaining hand motions. "Hm. Then you're probably pretty low on magic. Anna will probably tell you to get a hot meal and a good night's rest. As for what that light thing was, I'm not really sure but it didn't seem to be coming from you necessarily. More like it was coming from the earth itself. Similar to my Cosmic magic but different. It's probably pretty scary, having an ability you don't really understand. Especially one that talks to you. If you're interested in figuring it out I wouldn't mind trying to help? I mean, I don't know exactly what I could do except bring you to the doctor every time you mess up but that might be better than you just passing out wherever you end up at." He said with a slight chuckle, "In all seriousness, you should maybe talk to someone who understands more about magic than I do, like Samarra or Alice." He said, a bit concerned about her latent ability that left her barely able to move. Haizea smiled sheepishly. "If it wasn't too much trouble, I would like the help. By the way, who's Alice?" She asked, the conversation successfully distracting her from her nauseated stomach. Her knees were bouncing up and down as nervous energy shook through her body. It made her anxious, both her current state as well as all the sharing she was doing. She kept telling herself that it wouldn't hurt her, that she could trust the people here. "Helping you is no trouble at all. It's what friends do for one another." He said, pulling out his Lacrima Phone and opening up a map of Fiore. "Alice is a friend of mine...kinda. Anyway, she's one of the Ten Wizard Saints and the guild master of Galdrabók, she's also got a masters in magical studies from the university of Crocus. She's a real bookworm, especially when it comes magic junk so if she doesn't know what's going with you I doubt anyone does. Galdrabók is located...right about here,' he said, his finger pointed on a small dot just outside of Peace Village. "It's a mile outside of Peace village. It's hard to miss, the guild is basically a town of its own and there are signs posted so people don't get lost. I could go with you if you'd like? I haven't spoken to Alice in a few months so I'm sure she misses me." He said with a laugh before moving over to his contacts and writing down Alice's number to give to the blonde haired girl beside him. Haizea looked at the device, her eyes wide. She outstretched a finger, touching it before pulling away. "Woah, what is that?" She said, distracted while Izar was talking. Her attention snapped back to Izar after a second. "Yeah.. if it isn't a bother, I'd probably get lost without someone." During their conversation, Haizea realized that she didn't feel as nauseous and that strength was beginning to come back to her. "Could you? Maybe tomorrow or in a few days? I should probably rest. I trust your word that it's magic related." "It's a lacrima phone? They've been really popular for the last few years. You should save up for one, they're really handy. Anyway, I need to head back to Crocus for a few days but I can go with you next weekend if that's alright? I'll call Alice ahead of time so we're not just dropping in on her. She doesn't like when I do that." He said with smile on his face, "Yeah, you go get some rest. Eat something and take a nap, you'll probably feel better after a good nights sleep. If you can make it back to your dorm alright then I should get going. I've gotta train to catch in a few hours. I'll see ya later, Haizea." Haizea smiled, "I think I can manage, I'll see you soon!" She stood up, walking back to the empty room she called home. She flopped onto the bed, sighing as drowsiness took over. She slid underneath her thin sheets and put a pillow over her head. As she drifted off, a final thought crossed her mind. Perhaps the reason she was so open with Izar was the fact that reminded her of someone she cared about dearly, Gaiza. Category:QOS Roleplay Category:Roleplay Category:RP Category:Blackdagger01